"firefighters are down"..."got to be rifle or shotgun—high powered...semi or fully auto"

[Barack_America]

4 firefighters shot, 2 dead in upstate N.Y.


WEBSTER, N.Y. An ex-con gunned down two firefighters after luring them to his neighborhood by setting a car and a house ablaze early Monday, then took shots at police and committed suicide while several homes burned...

...The gunman fired at the four firefighters when they arrived shortly after 5:30 a.m. at the blaze in Webster, a suburb of Rochester, town Police Chief Gerald Pickering said. The first police officer who arrived chased the suspect and exchanged gunfire.

He lay in wait outdoors for the firefighters' arrival, then opened fire probably with a rifle and from atop an earthen berm, Pickering said.

"It does appear it was a trap," he said.

The gunman, William Spengler, had served more than 17 years in prison for beating his 92-year-old grandmother to death with a hammer in 1980 at the house next to where Monday's attack happened, Pickering said at afternoon news conference. Spengler, 62, was paroled in 1998 and had led a quiet life since, authorities said. Convicted felons are not allowed to possess weapons.

Two firefighters, one of whom was also a town police lieutenant, died at the scene, and two others were hospitalized. An off-duty officer who was passing by was also injured.

Another police officer, the one who exchanged gunfire with Spengler, "in all likelihood saved many lives," Pickering said.

Emergency radio communications capture someone saying he "could see the muzzle flash coming at me" as Spengler carried out his ambush. The audio posted on the website RadioReference.com has someone reporting "firefighters are down" and saying "got to be rifle or shotgun — high powered ... semi or fully auto."...

More about this tragedy and the asshole responsible for it at:
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57560719/4-firefighters-shot-2-dead-in-upstate-n.y/

He does not sound like a well man. Had no legal right to weapons, and yet...

[NYC_SKP]

1. Firefighters and peace officers have long been targets for boobie traps like this, very sad.

I remember finding a dead body in an abandoned building across the street from my place on E Houston in the early 1980's and a conversation with the EMT/police/others...

One of them told me how often it is that people booby trapped places like that and then called 911...

Fuckers!

[underthematrix]

2. tragic and yes preventable. The policy should

require background checks -require a license with an expiration date just like with driver's licenses - ban semi and full auto weapons -